1. Technical Field
In machine tools furnished with a moving body, with a feed mechanism for driving the moving body to move it, with a structural element placed in the region in which the moving body travels, and with a screen display means for displaying image data, the present invention relates to machine-tool controllers that in accordance with movements of the moving body generate image data of the moving body and the structural element, and onscreen display the image data on the screen display means.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such machine-tool controllers known to data include the example disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Pat. App. Pub. No. H05-19837. This machine-tool controller is set up in a lathe provided with, for example, first and second main spindle for holding workpieces, first and second tool rests for holding tools, a feed mechanism for moving the first and second tool rests in predetermined feed directions, and a display for displaying image data of the workpieces and tools onscreen.
In a situation in which, for example, a workpiece in the first main spindle is machined with a tool in the first tool rest, and a workpiece in the second main spindle is machined by a tool in the second tool rest, the machine-tool controller splits the onscreen display area of the display into two display zones to display on one of the two display zones the workpiece in the first main spindle and the tool in the first tool rest, and on the other, the workpiece in the second main spindle and the tool in the second tool rest.
Therein, in displaying the tools on the display screen, the controller recognizes operational commands for the tools (tool rests) from a machining program, and generates image data showing the situation in which the tools have been moved into move-to points involving the recognized operational commands and onscreen displays the image data in the respective display zones. Furthermore, this implementation is configured to display the workpieces continuously in the midportions of the display zones, in an immobilized state, and, due to limitations of the onscreen display area of the display, to display the tools onscreen only when present within prescribed regions in the proximity of the workpieces.
A machine-tool operator views the display screen to check on the tool operations, whereby the positional relationships between the tools and the workpieces, the status of tool movement, and the status of the machining of the workpieces by the tools can be verified, to check whether the tools and workpieces will interfere with each other.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Pat. App. Pub. No. H05-19837.
A problem with the foregoing conventional machine-tool controller, however, is that in situations in which the tools are at a distance from the workpieces, because only the workpieces are displayed on the display screen and the tools are not displayed, the operator is unable to be aware of what sort of conditions the tools are under, leaving the operator feeling uneasy. While it would be assumed that if the tools and workpieces are apart from each other, ordinarily there is no risk of their interfering, still, it would be advantageous for an operator to always be able to check on the status of the tools. A further problem is that in situations in which a tool is machining the extremities of a workpiece, for example, it can happen that the machined portion of the workpiece is displayed at an edge portion of the display area, which is prohibitive of checking on the machined portion.